SEPA Direct Debit

Which data are important for paying via SEPA Direct Debit and what do
they mean?

CID (Creditor Identifier) is a unique identifier of the beneficiary (Creditor). The beneficiary shall ask for the CID assignment through its relationship manager in the bank. The CID is assigned by the administrator of the SEPA Direct Debit Creditors in the creditor’s country of residence; which is the NBS in the SR. It is not possible to carry out direct debit without an assigned CID.

Mandate is the consent with performance of SEPA Direct Debit, granted by the payer to the payment creditor through signature. On the basis of the mandate, the creditor is entitled to send the payment order for SEPA Direct Debit to the payer’s bank. The mandate must contain the UMR, payer’s IBAN/BIC, payer’s name and address, CID, beneficiary’s name and address, type of direct debit (one-off/recurring), scheme type (CORE/B2B), date of signature of the mandate, signatures.

UMR (Unique Mandate Reference) is the mandate reference, i.e. the unique identification (number, text, ...), which serves to uniquely identify the direct debit relation. UMR shall be provided by the creditor to the payer at the mandate signature.

SEPA Direct Debit from the payer’s point of view

Which conditions must be met by the payer to be able to pay via SEPA Direct Debit?

In order to be able to pay via SEPA Direct Debit, the payer must meet the following conditions:

  • Having an account open with a bank in the euro currency,
  • Having agreed with the creditor upon payment by direct debit in advance and having signed the mandate,
  • Having established the SEPA Direct Debit Approval in the bank.

How can the payer protect his/her account against SEPA Direct Debit?

The bank enables to set 3 levels of the payer’s account protection in relation to SEPA Direct Debit:

  • If the payer has no SEPA Direct Debit Approval established for his/her account, the account is closed in relation to SEPA Direct Debit.
  • If the payer establishes the “SEPA Direct Debit Approval for a specific creditor”, his/her account is conditionally open in relation to SEPA Direct Debit; i.e. the payer authorizes to make SEPA Direct Debit from his/her account only for a specific beneficiary designated by him/her (to the credit of any account of such beneficiary). Several SEPA Direct Debit Approvals for a specific creditor may be established for a single account.
  • If the payer establishes “SEPA Direct Debit Approval for any creditor”, his/her account is open for any Consumer SEPA Direct Debit. Only a single SEPA Direct Debit Approval for any creditor may be established for a single account.

Payers may establish SEPA Direct Debit Approvals at any branch as well as via electronic banking. When establishing the Direct Debit Approval, it is necessary to have the payer’s mandate given to the beneficiary available.

When may the payer request rejection/return of the SEPA Direct Debit?

Payer may ask for rejection (non-performance) of a single direct debit payment, waiting for settlement max. 10 and min. 1 bank business day before the direct debit maturity date. Any following direct debits shall be performed in compliance with the SEPA Direct Debit Approval. After the SEPA Direct Debit settlement, the request for rejection thereof is invalid.

Payer may ask for return of funds debited from the account via SEPA Direct Debit:

  • Max. 8 weeks from the date of authorized settlement of the SEPA Direct Debit – only applies to the SEPA Direct Debit CORE scheme (Consumer),
  • Maximum 13 months from the date of incorrect/unauthorized settlement of the SEPA Direct Debit – applies to the SEPA Direct Debit CORE and B2B schemes.

Payer may ask for rejection / return of the SEPA Direct Debit at any branch as well as via electronic banking.

SEPA Direct Debit from the beneficiary’s point of view

Which conditions must be met by the beneficiary to be able to send SEPA Direct Debit orders?

In order to be able to send SEPA Direct Debit orders, the beneficiary must meet the following conditions:

  • Having an account open with a bank in the euro currency,
  • Having the CID assigned,
  • Having agreed with the bank upon sending of SEPA Direct Debit orders in advance (individual direct debit agreement),
  • Having agreed with the payers upon payment by direct debit in advance and signed mandates with them.

The SEPA Direct Debit orders may be delivered to the bank only via electronic banking.

For more information about processing of SEPA credit transfers and SEPA direct debits via electronic
banking, see the SEPA Payments Manual

SEPA Payments Manual

  • SEPA Payments Manual in Slovak
  • SEPA Payments Manual in English